How Text Messaging Can Enhance Customer Relationships - eBook for Marchex.com

Maintain Customer Communication after the Sale with Text

Once a sale has been made, it’s important to maintain engagement with customers. As questions arise or opportunities for more business emerge, companies that maintain consistent contact with their customers ensure they are in the best position to keep their customers satisfied. Text is often a convenient and effective method to keep in touch.

Text is a great option for customer communication because most people use text every day. Your customers are significantly more likely to see an incoming text than they are with other forms of communication. It can be used in a variety of ways, from pushing new promotions to addressing customer concerns. Text is also highly convenient on the company’s end, as SMS messages can be set up to be sent automatically to a customized list. Read on to learn strategies for how Customer Support teams can effectively engage with customers via text.

The Advantages of Enabling Your Customers to Reach Your Business via Text

Texting is commonly used for promotional deals with existing customers. Any customer who has given their contact details can be provided with promotional deals, product updates, customer loyalty perks, or other marketing information via text. These campaigns can be automated, taking a significant amount of busy work off the revenue team’s plate. To get customers engaged in the campaigns, promotional texts often include a key word for customers to use to trigger a follow-up message, leading to next steps toward purchase.

If a customer encounters an issue with the product or company, text is a great way for them to get in contact with a representative quickly. If their concern is common, an automated text sequence can direct them to the appropriate solution. For more pressing matters, customers can be routed to speak directly with a representative to work out the issue in real time. Due to text’s immediate nature, problems can be solved much faster than through other channels of communication, leading to more satisfied customers.

How Some Businesses Use Text to Communicate with Customers

An insurance company in Florida encountered a serious problem after a devastating hurricane. Post-storm damage in the state was at record levels, and flooding had destroyed many homes and businesses. Unfortunately, the company could not effectively communicate with their customers through email as most of them did not have access to broadband internet in wake of the disaster.

The solution was clear. The company already used texting in some capacity, but they expanded it to include customer communication and claims processing to better support their customers. Since text messaging does not require internet access to use, it quickly proved to be a lifeline of customer support. The insurance company sent out a mass text to all customers in its CRM platform offering help. The results were dramatic. After the first message blast, half of the company’s customers responded within 30 minutes. Comparatively, they only received a handful of emails after a previous disaster. Text was further implemented to support claims processing since customers could immediately take and send pictures to facilitate the claims process.

In another case, an online real estate marketplace uses text messaging to communicate with their agent customers. Text is the preferred channel for agents due to the on-the-go nature of their jobs. When technical issues arise, customers often communicate the issue first via text. The Technical Support Team realized customers often were referred to them via a text message and added a text channel in order to accept these incoming issues. Some issues can be solved via text, but often text serves as a triage point to refer the issue to the best resource to help. And since texting integrates with the company’s CRM platform, all support issues and communications are captured providing valuable context if issues arise in the future.

Getting Started

Businesses that continue to engage with their existing customers experience more revenue and higher customer satisfaction. Customers can make further purchases when given promotions and have a helpline at their fingertips if issues emerge when business texting is enabled. For today’s businesses that interact with customers, having a text channel to support them is a natural way to keep in touch with customers.